But with or without that grant, Councilman Bill Peduto, who is likely to become the next mayor, says the city needs to hire more firefighters.

Peduto, however, says he wants to have more management control, reducing overtime and callbacks by reducing so-called minimum staffing requirements.

He’d also like to see an end to basing a firefighter’s pension benefits on his or her salary for their final years of service, overtime included.

“We need to be able to get management of the fire bureau back within the city, and we need to be able to hire more so that there isn’t a need for vast amounts of overtime,” said Peduto.

So, it appears there will be more classes and recruits coming through the training academy in the coming years, and while that may not solve the overtime and pension problem, it will at least put a dent in it.